Well surveying device



Jan. 2l, 1947. G. A. sMlTl-i WELL sURvEYING `DEVICE Filed June 2l, 1941 f/@r w wim @L MQwX/o M2 /M/wra/a @Curie/4. SW7/V JY i v `r Arm/ys.

x w M Patented Jan. 21, 1947 l t A* UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE 2,414,102 wELrI sURvEnNG DEVICE George A. Smith, Philadelphia, Pa., assigner to SperrySun Well Surveying Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application June 21, 1941, Serial No. 399,085 2 c1aims.- (cia3-205.5)

This invention relates to a well surveying inmediate and lower parts of an instrument formstrument and has particular reference to a Well ing a preferred embodiment of the invention; and surveying instrument of the so-called'single shot Figure '2 is a plan viewof a compass member type though, as will be clear hereafter, it is pos-v in the instrument. sible in utilizing the instrument of the present The instrument illustrated ,in Figures 1A, 1B invention to produce a limited plurality of recand 1C is the instrument proper, which; when ords. lowered into a bore hole, is contained within a Practical directional well surveying instruprotective casing which, in the present instance, ments adapted to produce records of both inclimust be of non-magnetic material in order that nation and direction of inclination have heretoi0 the compass may function to give directional infore been of photographic type and have involved dications. The remainder of the instrument, or the use of timing means to eiect the `exposure at least those portions thereof in the vicinity of of a photographic iilm at a predetermined time the compass are also non-magnetic so that the for a short interval to produce the instrument compass may freely seek its position in the magrecor'd. There has recently been developed an 15 netic field of the earth or in an'articially proinclinoxneter illustrated in the application of Rovided magnetic field in case the instrument is land Ring, Serial No. 313,706, filed January 13, used for orientation purposes.

1940, Patent No. 2,240,417,7dated April 29, 1941, The instrument comprises a tube 2'closed lat which inclinometer does not depend for its operits lower end by a plug 4 and connected at its ation upon the use of any timing device, but upper end throughacoupling with asupporting operates by' producing a record slowly so that a sleeve 8 which, in turn, is connected to an interrecord which is distinguishable as a valid one will mediate tube I0. This tube is surmounted by a be produced only when the instrument is at rest coupling member I2 to which is secured an upper for a substantial period of time. .Whilethe retubo |4 oappedby an end piece |5 cording means of the instrument is active The lower plug 4 has threaded into a bore I9 throughout the entire time of descent and ascent. provided in it an insulated piece |3 in which 1s the movement of the recording means prevents threaded a metallic member 20 carrying a con- -the formation of any definite record during the ductive pin 22. When the instrument is in up.. descent and ascent. This instrument is adapted right position as illustrated, the pin 22 engages a to produce a plurality of records of inclination :in 'globule of mercury 24 located in a reduced cup Y by holding it stationary at different positions for portion of the bore 'i9 of the metallic plug. A

varying periods of time, whereupon there are prospring 26 supported by the member 20 is enlduced a plurallty of records distinguished by gaged by the casing of the lowermost of a series their intensity or size and which may be COrreof batteries 28 which may be insulated from the lated at the positions at which they were made by tube 2 by an insulating sleeve 30. One or more taking into account the varying periods of inbatteries may be provided as' required by the lampY A activity. Such operation of the instrument is 32, which they are.adapted to energize, this lamp described in the application of Roland Ring, Sebeing threaded into the plug 6 and having its rial No. 379,835, led February 20, 1941. central contact engaging the center positive -pole It is the` object of the present invention tol 40 of the uppermost battery if a plurality of batprovide a directional instrument having similar teries is used. It will be evident that when the characteristics of operation to produce one or apparatus is uprigh. more records of both inclination and direction through the lamp 32 by reason of the presence of without the presence of timing means. 'The in` the globule 24 in contact with the pin 22. When strument is not only adapted for determining the the instrument Vis tilted substantially from the course of a bore holebut, as will be evident, for vertical or is inverted, the globule will no longer orientation purposes in accordance with the prinmake contact with the pin I2, and accordingly ciples of the patent to Hyer, No. 2,120,670, issued the lamp circuit will be open. When set aside June 14, 1938. prior to or afterruse, it is contemplated that the This general object, -and other objects particinstrument shall be placed in an inverted posiarly relating to details, will become apparent tion. from the following description, read in conjunc- Threaded into the 0011911119 3 1S a Compass 8S- tion with the accompanying drawing, in which: sembly indicated at 34 and consisting of an an- Figures 1A, 1B and 1C illustrate longitudinal nular member in which is assembled throughthe cross-sections, respectively, of the upper, interuse of a clamping ring and spacers upper and terior of .with an inwardly directed flange to clamp theresuflicient batteries energizing lower glassmembers 36 and 38 providing between them a compass chamber and carrying bearings for the spindle of a compass assembly indicated in Figure 2. 'Ihis assembly comprises a compass needle 40 provided with a spindle in the usual fashion and carrying an opaque disc 42 provided with an opening 43, for 'example of triangular shape, as illustrated in Figure 2. The glass covered disc is desirably rendered opaque by a lacquer or the like around its periphery so that its upper portion overlaps slightly the edges of the disc 42, with the result that illumination from below can pass through the glass plate 38 only by way of the opening 43. l

A ring 44 is adapted to be threaded to the exthe compass assembly 34 and is provided on a photographic film, indicated at 46, desirably in the form of a disc olf-Celluloid carrying an emulsion which may be of a type hereafter dis cussed.

vAbove the photographic disc 46 is located a pendulum 48 centrally suspended through a gimbal mounting, indicated at 52, on the coupling member I2`. 4This pendulum 48 is provided with a central bore 56 through whichlight may pass from a lamp 54 located in an enlarged opening in the upper portion ofthe pendulum concentric with the center of its mounting. A plain bore 56 may be provided, or, alternatively, this may be elaborated to an optical system by means of a series of lenses so as to project a well defined spot of light on the film 46,'adjacent to which the lower end of the pendulum closely moves.

The bulb 54 is threaded into the coupling I2 and has its central contact in engagement with the central pole of the lowermost of one or .more

batteries 58, insulated from the tube i4 by means of an insulating sleeve 60. The uppermost battery engages a: pin 62 pressed downwardly by a spring 64, which also urges upwardly an upper pin 66, these pins and spring being located in an insulating assembly, the arrangement of which will be evident from consideration of the part 68, 16 and 12. The pin 66 propects intoa laterally 4 intense. and relatively high wattage lamps may be used, each energized by a plurality of batteries Generally speaking, the emulsions may be of suitable types, which are commercially available and have widely varying sensitivities. If a :printing-A out emulsion is used,-the record may be taken out of the instrument and examined directly without development in daylight. If it is not kept in strong illumination for too long a period, it y may then be placed in a light-tight container and will keep indefinitely, or it may be immediately fixed to preserve the printed-out record. On the other hand, if a developing-out emulsion is used, which is of any moderate speed, it will be necessary. to handle the film ina completely or fairlydark region, in order that the record made will not be obliterated by over-al1 exposure of the disc to light.

opening slot 14 and the circuit through the lamp 54 will close in obvious fashion by the insertion of a ymetal disc 16 into the slot.` Instead of the disc 16, in normal operation a cap of the pro- I tective casing is provided with ametal disc carried by a central metal pin, so that as assembly of the instrument is made into the protective casing, the circuit. willbe closed, theinstrument being supported by the cap of the casing.

The photographic film may be of several types.

I It desirably consists of a sheet of transparent v Celluloid, so that marking may be effected by illumination both from above and below it. The emulsion used depends entirely on the operation which is desired. If ldevelopment of the disc is desirable; the emulsion may be of developing-out type, in which case the lm will generally be relatively fast and, for the purposes of operation described hereafter, the illumination intensity on the film may berelatively low. Lamps of quite small wattage may be used in. such case with them. If in such case the intensity is still too high, there may be interposed in the optical :paths dimming devices in the form, for example, of lter glasses.

On the other hand, and leading to still greater simplicity of operation, there may be used an emulsion of printing-out type. In such case, depending upon the light sensitivity of the printing out emulsion. the illumination may be relatively- In either case, the same general type of operavtion occurs. The instrument is prepared for use by locating it in its protective casing 'and turning it to a vertical position, whereupon it may be run c into a bore hole,` on a w1re line or in go-devil fashion. So long as it is in motion, with the proper choice of light intensity and film sensitivity, no substantial records will be made, since the pendulum will be in oscillation and the compass will be swinging about its pivot. However,when the instrument is brought to rest, thepend'ulum will assume a vertical position, while vthe compass will line up with the local magnetic eld and occupy a' xedposition. If the instrument is then vretained at rest for a period of, say, one minute, o'r of some other length of time, depending upon'the illumination and sensitivity, a record will be produced consisting of a circular spot due to the pendulum and a triangular spot on the edge of the film due to the opening 43 through which rays pass .from the concentrated filament of the bulb 32. This image, of course, will be latent in the `case of a developing-out'fllament, orwill'appear by darkening in the case of a printing-out film. If a single record is to be made, following this suitable location of the instrument in a position of rest, it may be withdrawn from the .hole and the lm removed and examined or developed and examined, depending upon its nature.

Multiple records may be made by permitting the instrument to remain in various positions for minutes respectively. In-such case, there will vgenerally appear three' circular markings and three triangular markings. In each case 'the markings will be of different intensity,v so that the respective positions in which they were made may be easily determined. In this way, a limited plurality of records, say, up to ve or six, may be readily` made and distinguished. The motion during the lowering operation, making rest periods, and during withdrawal will prevent obliteration. y

If the instrument is to be used in go-devil fashion to produce a directional record, a drill stem may be provided with a non-magnetic sub adjacent its lower end into which the instrument may be dropped and wherein it will be arrested. In such case, the withdrawal of the instrument may be desirable with the drill stem, and since in a deep holesthe withdrawal of thedrill stem is a matter of a substantial period of time, it may happen that' the workmen may desire to rest, or there may arise some necessity for interrupting the withdrawal. In such case, it may be desirbetween the record through which the rays from a able to include in the circuits oi the two lamps time limiting devices oi' the type illustrated in my application Serial No. 1941.

Two separate lamp circuits and corresponding sets of batteries have been illustrated and are desirable to avoid the complication of passing a cur- 385424, med March 27,

.rent lead past the location oi the record disc and separate sets a's illustrated.

While in general the motion during lowering or raising will tend to vibrate the compass and cause it to swing suiciently to prevent the formation of a record during said movements, insurance that the compasswould not be pointing more or less continuously in the same direction may be secured by providing the nose of the protective casing with rubber shock absorbers provided with spirally arranged grooves so as to cause the protective casing to rotate back and forth during the lowering and raising operations.

While the instrument is desirably of the nature described, to avoid the presence of clock control, it will be evident that some of its features areequally applicable to a clock controlled instrument as, for example, the arrangement of an opaque compass disc with an opening in it passed to the sensitised iilm. As to detailed fealamp may be' tures of construction, therefore, the invention is not to be considered as limited to an instrument from which clock control is absent.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A well surveying instrument comprising a casing adapted to enter a bore hole, means for supporting a record member within the casing, a pendulum located on one side of said record member, a magnetic compass located on the opposite side of `said recordmember, a pair of electrically energized means for producing simultaneously on said record member records of the positions of said pendulum and said compass respectively, and separate power supplies for the respective means for the recording of the pendulum and compass positions located on opposite sides of said record member and compass so that current-carrying leads do not extend past the level of said magnetic compass.

2. A well surveying instrument comprising a casing adapted to enter a bore hole, a compass chamber having light transmitting upper and lower ends located within said casing, a magnetic compass located within said chamber, means for supporting a light sensitive record member upon said compass chamber, a pendulum located above said record member, and means for producing simultaneously on said record member records of the positions of said pendulum and said compass, the last named means comprising means for projecting a restricted beam of light in the direction of the axis of said pendulum upon the record member, and means for projecting a beam of light through an opening in the peripheral portion of the compass upon said record member.

GEORGE A. SMITH. 

